2 A Controversial Public Figure

Outspoken in both his faith and his politics, Robertson has made plenty of headlines and enemies. The major controversies surrounding him include:

• Robertson's claims of the power of his prayers. For example, Robertson claims to have used the power of prayer to steer hurricanes away from his companies' Virginia Beach, Virginia headquarters. He took credit for steering the course in 1985 of Hurricane Gloria, which caused millions of dollars of destruction in many states along the east coast. He made a similar claim about another destructive storm, Hurricane Felix , in 1995.

• Robertson's attacks on feminists, homosexuals, and liberals. Among his more controversial statements, Robertson has described feminism as a " socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians." Robertson's views mirror those of the controversial evangelical activist Jerry Falwell, who has made frequent appearances on The 700 Club. He agreed with Falwell that the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks were caused by " pagans, abortionists, feminists, gays, lesbians, the ACLU and the People for the American Way." After public outcry regarding the dialogue, which took place only days after the attacks, Robertson stated that he had not understood what Falwell was saying during the interview, which was conducted via television monitor.

• Robertson's great personal wealth and his uses of it. His net worth is between $200 million and $1 billion USD according to the 2002 book The Best Democracy Money Can Buy by Greg Palast. Through his ostensibly charitable organization, Operation Blessing International, Robertson claims to have spent $1.2 million bringing aid to refugees in Rwanda. His critics, such as Palast, claim the money was actually spent to bring heavy equipment for Robertson's African Development Corporation, a diamond mining operation.

• Robertson's support of former Liberian president Charles Taylor. In various episodes of his 700 Club program during the United States' involvement in the Liberian Civil War in June and July of 2003, Robertson repeatedly supported Liberian President Charles Taylor. Robertson accuses the U.S. State Department of giving President Bush bad advice in supporting Taylor's ouster as president, and of trying "as hard as they can to destabilize Liberia." Robertson has been criticized for failing to mention in his broadcasts his $8 million investment in a Liberian gold mine . Taylor had been at the time of Robertson's support indicted by the United Nations for war crimes. According to Robertson, Freedom Gold, the Liberian gold mine, was intended to help pay for humanitarian and evangelical efforts in Liberia. Regarding this controversy, Richard Land, head of the Southern Baptist Convention's public policy said, "I would say that Pat Robertson is way out on his own, in a leaking life raft, on this one."

• Robertson's political statements. On his The 700 Club television program, Pat Robertson has sharply criticized elements of the United States government. In interviews with the author of a book critical of the United States Department of State, Robertson made suggestions that the explosion of a nuclear weapon at State Department Headquarters would be good for the country, and repeated those comments on the air. "What we need is for somebody to place a small nuke at Foggy Bottom," Robertson said during his television program, refering to the location of the State Department headquarters. State Department officials said they believed the comments to be in extremely bad taste, and have lodged official complaints against Robertson for his remarks.

• Robertson's Korean War record. In the late 1980s, Pat Robertson sued Congressman Pete McCloskey and Representative Andy Jacobs for libel. McCloskey, who served with Robertson in Korea, made claims that Robertson was spared combat duty when his powerful father intervened on his behalf. Jacobs repeated these statements publicly. During pre-trial depositions, another veteran who had served with Robertson, Paul Brosman, Jr., spoke of rumors during the war that Robertson had been carousing with prostitutes and hassling Korean women. Brosman stated that Robertson himself talked about his exploits with prostitutes. In the end, Robertson dropped his lawsuit because of scheduling conflicts between court dates and his 1988 presidential campaign, and he was ordered to pay part of McCloskey's court costs.

3 Pat Robertson Quotations

• "There is no such thing as separation of church and state in the Constitution. It is a lie of the Left and we are not going to take it anymore." [1]

• "If I could just get a nuclear device inside Foggy Bottom, I think that's the answer." (talking about the United States State Department) [2]

• "I think ' one man, one vote ,' just unrestricted democracy, would not be wise. There needs to be some kind of protection for the minority which the white people represent now, a minority, and they need and have a right to demand a protection of their rights." (talking about apartheid in South Africa) [3]

• "If anybody understood what Hindus really believe, there would be no doubt that they have no business administering government policies in a country that favors freedom and equality." [4]

• "We're importing Hinduism into America. The whole thought of your karma, of meditation, of the fact that there's no end of life and there's this endless wheel of life, this is all Hinduism. Chanting too. Many of those chants are to Hindu Gods -- Vishnu, Hare Krishna. The origin of it is all demonic. We can't let that stuff come into America. We've got the best defense, if you will -- a good offense." [5]

• "The media challenged me. `You're not going to bring atheists into the government? How dare you maintain that those who believe the Judeo-Christian values are better qualified to govern America than Hindus and Muslims?' My simple answer is, `Yes, they are.'" [6]

• "The Antichrist is probably a Jew alive in Israel today."

• " Presbyterians are the spirit of the Antichrist." ( The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, p. 85)

• "We're undermining a Christian, Baptist president to bring in Muslim rebels to take over the country. And how dare the president of the United States say to the duly elected president of another country, 'You've got to step down,'." (talking about Liberia)

• "I have never met Taylor in my life. I don't know what he has done or hasn't done. I do know he was elected by the people, and he has maintained a relatively stable government in Liberia; and they observe the rule of law; they have a working legislature; they have courts. And though he may have certain dictatorial powers, so do most leaders in Africa." (talking about Liberia)

• "We have allowed rampant secularism and occult, et cetera, to be broadcast on television. We have permitted somewhere in the neighborhood of 35 to 40 million unborn babies to be slaughtered in our society. We have a Court that has essentially stuck its finger in God's eye and said, 'We're going to legislate you out of the schools, we're going to take your Commandments from off the courthouse steps in various states, we're not going to let little children read the Commandments of God, we're not going to let the Bible be read -- no prayer in our schools.' We have insulted God at the highest levels of our government. And, then we say 'why does this happen?' Well, why its happening is that God Almighty is lifting His protection from us." (in response to the 9/11 attacks)

4 Books by Pat Robertson

• The New Millennium
• Answers to 200 of Life's Most Probing Questions
• The Secret Kingdom
• America's Dates with Destiny
• The Plan
• Beyond Reason: How Miracles can Change your Life
• Turning Tide: The Fall of Liberalism and the Rise of Common Sense
• Shout it from the Housetops an autobiography
• The End of the Age
• New World Order ( 1991)
• Bring It On
• The Ten Offenses

5 Honors given to Pat Robertson

• 1975 The Distinguished Merit Citation from The National Conference of Christians and Jews.
• 1976 Faith and Freedom Award in the field of broadcasting.
• 1978 Department of Justice Award from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 25th FBI Vesper Service.
• 1979 National Conference of Christians and Jews - Distinguished Merit Citation.
• 1982 Humanitarian of the Year by Food for the Hungry.
• 1984 Man of the Year Award from the Women's National Republican Club.
• 1984 Citation from the National Organization for the Advancement of Hispanics.
• 1985 National Association of United Methodist Evangelists.
• 1988 Man of the Year by Students for America.
• 1989 Christian Broadcaster of the Year by the National Religious Broadcasters.
• 1992 One of America's 100 Cultural Elite by Newsweek Magazine.
• 1994 Omega Fellowship Award by Food for the Hungry for Operation Blessing's fight against worldwide hunger.
• 1994 Defender of Israel Award from the Christians' Israel Public Action Campaign for those who have made major contributions in strengthening U.S.-Israel relations.
• 1994 John Connor Humanitarian Service Award from Operation Smile International.
• 2000 Cross of Nails award for his vision, inspiration, and humanitarian work with The Flying Hospital.
• 2002 State of Israel Friendship Award from the Zionist Organization of America .

6 External Links

• Robertson explains his position on Liberia
• Pat Robertson denounces Hinduism as "Demonic"

Robertson, Pat Robertson, Pat Robertson, Pat Robertson, Pat Robertson, Pat Robertson, Pat

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